Disagreement over debate rules halts candidate forum

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. − An October debate in collaboration with the League of Women Voters of Greater Lafayette will not occur due to candidates not being able to agree to debate rules, according to the nonpartisan organization.

The League of Women Voters, in collaboration with WLFI-TV, invited the Tippecanoe County General Assembly candidates to a multi-candidate debate scheduled for Oct. 6. On July 29, the debate rules were proposed, which included nonpartisan questions to be asked of the candidates from the public and members of the media.

On Aug. 18, after the deadline to accept or deny the debate's invitation and rules had passed, reportedly an alternative set of rules was notified to the candidates from the LoWV.

"The League of Women Voters contacted me and asked me to participate in the debate," said Rep. Chris Campbell, a Democrat. "It was going to be Fred Duttlinger and I for District 26 and David Sanders and Spencer Deery for (District 23). I accepted immediately. It was fine with me.

"And then the next thing I knew, Spencer Deery's campaign had requested a change. And basically changing it from a nonpartisan question creation with just the (LoWV) and WLFI to they wanted the party chairs to be part of that question creation for the debate."

The Journal & Courier reached out to Deery regarding the request for partisan questions in the debate and received the following response:

"Once it became clear that it would be a very different gathering than the one that was first proposed as both Democratic and Republican candidates started opting not to participate for various reasons," Deery said, "including some lingering concerns about the fairness of the question selection process, our team made the decision that our time was best spent continuing to travel the six counties of the district meeting voters on their doorsteps and at community events."

Duttlinger, Republican candidate for District 26 state representative, posted on his campaign Facebook page his "disappointment" in Rep. Campbell as she "will not agree to the draft question development / prioritization process," as Duttlinger wrote.

"Disappointed that the League of Women Voters of Greater Lafayette debate will not take place," Duttlinger wrote. "I was informed by the LoWV's debate organizer that Chris Campbell 'will not agree to the draft question development / prioritization process.'...I am a hopeful person at heart and look forward to a debate occurring before November that includes a bipartisan approach coupled with constituent interests."

One person commented on this post asking "why the party chairs should be selecting questions." Duttlinger replied, "The questions were coming from a variety of sources including voter submissions that were being collected by the LoWV. The party chairs would have been present for transparency purposes."

Campbell stated that is was this partisan-question request that she could not accept.

"I wanted it to remain completely nonpartisan," Campbell said, "and didn't feel that I need or want any party, even the Democrat, party chair in the room...The next thing I knew, Spencer Deery had declined. He was not going to participate in the debate."

When notified that Campbell said that it was Deery that initially requested partisan questions at the debate, Deery replied.

"Fred Duttlinger and I were the two Republican candidates that were trying to make this debate happen," Deery said. "We simply asked for a bipartisan review of the questions."

On Tuesday, Sanders sent out a news release stating that he was contacted by the LoWV to participate in the debate and that he accepted the invitation immediately along with "the (original) proposed rules for the debate."

On Thursday afternoon, Sanders was present at the West Lafayette Public Library to hold a discussion on "how an informed electorate is essential to democracy... (and) the role of nonpartisan institutions such as the League of Women Voters and the media."

"On July 29, the debate rules were proposed," Sanders said. "I immediately accepted...On August the 18th, after the deadline for acceptance of the debate and its rules, I was notified by the League of Women Voters of a different, an alternative set of debate rules. I said 'I'm gonna have to think about it...' But the very next day, (Deery) declined. As far as I understand, the change in the debate rules were the ones the other side had proposed."

When asked if he would have participated in the debate with party chairs present, Sanders replied, "Almost certainly, yes."

The LoWV confirmed with the Journal & Courier that debates cannot proceed unless all candidates agree to the stated rules.

"We require that both candidates in a debate come to agreement on the same set of rules," Ken Jones, chair of voter services for the LoWV, said. "When/if that doesn’t happen, then the debate cannot go forward."

Margaret Christopherson is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email her at mchristopherson@jconline.com and follow her on Twitter @MargaretJC2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Disagreement over debate rules halts candidate forum